Security issue with Vonvon ???

While the draw of finding out which words you use the most on Facebook may not hold much sway for some (mostly because mine would clearly just prove that I talk about ‘Weddings’ far too much), around 17 million people have signed up for Facebook’s new ‘Most Used Words’ app; which means around 17 million people are giving away more info than they might realise!

An app created by South Korean company Vonvon.me now lets you check which words you use most on FB; it’s gone viral over the last few days, but there are a few concerns about the access that people are giving it to their accounts.

As it says on the tin, the app lets you see what words you’ve used most in your FB statuses. When you allow access though, it gathers info about your Facebook account and computer, including your IP address and what browser you’re using. It can also gather certain information on your friends too.

The best bit is that even if you shut down your account with Vonvon.me, its terms of use state that it can hold onto your info, which can then be stored on “any server, in any location”. Given the recent ‘Safe Harbour’ debate – with some saying that data protection laws were nowhere near good enough for EU data when it’s stored on US soil – this is frustrating, because if you don’t know where it’s being stored you don’t know what laws it might be subject to.

The company is also fairly clear that once your info has been passed on, what the next company does with it is their business – the privacy policy says it “does not apply to the practices of entities Vonvon does not own or control, or to individuals whom Vonvon does not employ or manage, including any third parties to whom Vonvon may disclose Personal Information”. Basically, you’re on your own.

While there’s no way users are always going to read the small print, and Vonvon’s by no means the only company doing this, the privacy debate rages on, and it’s always important to check before you allow anyone access to your info. It’s so common to see these pop ups now we may not think twice before granting access to a fun looking quiz, or assume that because others have allowed access, we should too. Don’t fall into that trap!

If you want to do a bit of damage control in Facebook’s case, you can go to the apps section of your profile and remove much of what you don’t want, though that doesn’t cover you for everything and sometimes then won’t let you use the app anyway. While it’s not certain yet what Vonvon.me plans to do with all of the data, or if it has actually sold anyone’s on yet, it’s always important to be aware of who has your data and where – both from a privacy and a security point of view!

This article penned by Katherine Kelly is reproduced with the kind permission of UKfast Limited an extremely secure hosting company managing some of the biggest names in commerce and retail within the UK and overseas including the NAWCP site.